Dean The Maccabbee
by bgeesfan
Summary: A young Sam learns about Chanukah from Rufus. I decided that since Rufus is Jewish, and since it's Chanukah right now, I thought I'd write a Chanukah story. I think this is what morgana07 calls a plot bunny. Once the idea hit me I couldn't get rid of it until I wrote this and published it. My first young Winchesters story. Enjoy and Happy Chanukah!


Sam walked into the dining room and saw Rufus putting candles in a funny looking candle holder. "Whatcha doing, Uncle Rufus?" he asked. Rufus turned and smiled at the eight year old.

"I'm lighting candles to celebrate Chanukah."

"What's Chanukah?"

Rufus smiled and motioned for Sam to come join him. "I'll tell you. Years and years ago a group of people took away the place where my ancestors, the Jews, worshipped."

"Like where Pastor Jim worships?"

"Yep, like where Pastor Jim worships. Anyway, this one guy named Judah Maccabbee decided that he was going to take the place back. He was tired of being bullied by these people who were called the Syrians."

"Wow. He's like Dean! Dean keeps other kids from bullying me at school!"

Rufus smiled and ruffled Sam's hair. "Exactly like Dean, and your dad, too. Your dad keeps people from bullying other people too," he said smiling at the expression of awe on Sam's face. "Anyway, Judah Maccabbee succeeded and got rid of the Syrians but the place, called the Temple, was a mess. And there wasn't enough oil to light the holy lamp. Judah knew it took eight days to make more oil so he decided to go ahead and light the holy lamp and do everything he could to keep it lit until more oil could be made. Judah and the rest of the Jews cleaned the Temple and as they were cleaning they forgot about the holy lamp."

"Did it go out?" Sam asked.

"Hold your horses, kiddo. I'm getting there. No, it didn't go out. The oil that wasn't enough to last even a single day lasted all eight days."

"How? There wasn't enough."

"No one knows how. That's why we celebrate. To remember the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days. We also eat fried foods like potato pancakes and fried jelly doughnuts."

"Dean would like this holiday. He likes fried stuff."

Rufus laughed. "Yes, he would. He'll be back tomorrow–what say we wait for them to come back before we light the candles and you can tell Dean all about Chanukah. Okay?"

"Yeah! Can we make some of those potato pancake things too?"

"You bet we can but I'm going to need a helper. Know anyone who might want to help?"

"Me! I'll help you, Uncle Rufus! I bet Dean will help, too!"

"Good. You're just the men for the job. Now it's time to light the candles. Ready? I light the tallest one first; it's called the helper candle and it lights all the rest of them." He pulled out a box of matches and lit the tallest candle. Then he said, "now we light them from left to right, lighting the newest candle first." He lit first the left-most candle followed by the candle to its right. "Now we have to say two prayers. Baruch atah Adonai, elohenu melech haolam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu, l'hadlik ner, shel Chanukah. Baruch atah Adonai, elohenu melech haolam, sh'asa nisim l'avoteinu. Bayamim, hahem, ba'azman hazeh. The first one means blessed are you, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, who hallows us with commandments and commands us to kindle the lights of Chanukah. The second one means blessed are you, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe who did miracles for our ancestors in those days at this season."

"What language was that?"

"Hebrew."

"Is it like Latin? I hate Latin. Dad says I have to learn it."

"No, it's not like Latin. It's used just for Jewish people when they pray or when they read the Bible. People in Israel also speak Hebrew."

"Oh." Sam fell silent and the two stood looking at the three lit candles for a few minutes before Rufus looked at his watch.

"Time for bed now, kiddo."

"Okay. That was neat, Uncle Rufus. Thanks. Good night."

"Good night, kiddo." Rufus watched fondly as Sam headed upstairs. _John, I wonder if you know just how many miracles you have in Sam and Dean, _he thought. He sat and watched the candles until they burned themselves out then he went upstairs, checked on Sam, and went to bed.


End file.
